1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a film-tape eraser, and more particularly to a film-tape eraser with normally retracted dispensing head. A downward push at a top of the eraser would sink a dispensing mechanism of the eraser and bring a dispensing head to a position projected from a lower front of the eraser for use. When the downward push is released, the dispensing mechanism is elastically lifted and the dispensing head is retracted into the eraser.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most of the conventional film-tape erasers do not include a cap, and are therefore subject to a damaged or deformed dispensing head when the erasers are unexpectedly dropped or impacted. A damaged or deformed dispensing head fails to dispense an erasing film-tape smoothly and continuously, and possibly becomes completely useless.
Even if a film-tape eraser initially includes a cap to protect the dispensing head against undesired damage or deformation, the cap tends to be ignored or discarded soon because it causes inconveniences to a user who has to remove and replace the cap each time the eraser is used.
Taiwanese Patent Application No. 88213471 discloses a film-tape eraser that includes a main body having a dispensing opening, an upper side of which is provided with an engaging part for a cap to pivotally connect thereto. The cap may be easily closed onto the dispensing opening to isolate the film-tape from an external environment and be easily lifted to expose the film-tape for use. Since the cap is pivotally connected to the main body of the eraser, it is protected against separating from the main body and becoming lost. However, the cap must be lifted each time the eraser is to be used. And, in the case the eraser is unexpectedly dropped with the cap in the lifted position, it is possible the cap is damaged and separated from the main body due to collision with the ground. Thus, the pivotally connected cap does not provide an effective solution to protect the dispensing head of the film-tape eraser.
It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop a film-tape eraser having a dispensing head that is normally retracted into the eraser and could be extended from the eraser for use simply by downward pushing a top of the eraser, so that the film-tape eraser is always protected against a damaged or deformed dispensing head.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a film-tape eraser with a normally retracted dispensing head. When a downward push is applied at a top of the eraser, the dispensing head is moved to expose from a lower front of the eraser for use, and when the downward push is released, the dispensing head automatically retracts into the eraser and is protected against damage due to any undesired drop of or impact against the eraser.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a film-tape eraser having a dispensing mechanism that may be elastically lifted from a lower case of the eraser for replacement of a new erasing film-tape.
To achieve the above and other objects, the film-tape eraser of the present invention mainly includes an upper case, a lower case, and a dispensing mechanism pivotally connected to and located in the lower case. The upper case is also pivotally connected to the lower case to shield an upper part of the latter. The lower case has a curved bottom that serves as a slide way, and the dispensing mechanism is provided at a bottom with a forward extended elastic strip that is movably pressed at a front free end against the slide way of the lower case to normally elastically pushes the dispensing mechanism upward to partially expose from a top of the upper case.
A downward push at a top of the dispensing mechanism would sink the dispensing mechanism and bring the dispensing head to a position exposed from a lower front of the lower case. When the dispensing mechanism is released from the downward push, the elastic strip at the bottom of the dispensing mechanism springs the dispensing mechanism up and brings the dispensing head to a retracted position in the lower case.
The upper case is provided at two sidewalls near lower rear portions thereof with two locking holes for normally engaging with two locking studs projected from two release button provided on two sidewalls of the lower case. When the release buttons are inward pushed to disengage the locking studs from the locking holes, the upper case together with the dispensing mechanism are sprung up by the elastic strip at the bottom of the dispensing mechanism to locate above the lower case. A user may then remove an erasing film-tape from the dispensing mechanism and replace it with a new one.